Green Acrobat Up There – Manchester, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 28.421 W 002° 14.872
30U E 549921 N 5925229
This dual arch has an acrobat doing a hand stand on top of it.
Waymark Code: WMDJFK
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/20/2012
Views: 4
It was erected in September 2010 and forms an entrance arch on a pathway leading onto an area of redevelopment on the southern side of Manchester.
The site previously had old industrial gas works and gas holders on it. The area is being redeveloped and has attracted funding from the European Union.
The artist is Colin Spofforth and his website tells the story behind them.
“Up there’ is a series of five 2.5m sculptures set on 5m stainless steel columns. The concept was to project the sculptures up into the trees lining First Street in Manchester.
Colin explained: “The trees are a key feature on First Street. My challenge was to produce artwork that didn’t take your eyes down to the ground, instead the sculptures attract the eye ‘up there’ in to the trees! The trees become the theatre and the sculptures are the actors”.
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visit link)
Each of the acrobats is a different colour and in a different pose with this particular one being green and is doing a handstand with legs raised vertically and held tightly close to each other.
The redevelopment is so new that the Google satellite view shows the site whilst work was still under way.
The acrobatic arch is actually next to a brick arch which is part of a railway viaduct. The entrance to the site is therefore through an old industrial brick arch from which you are immediately confronted with this modern arch and redevelopment site.
Looking back the other way you can see a mixture of the old Manchester architecture with a very modern 50 storey skyscraper in the background.
The sculptures cost £150,000 and sparked controversy when they were erected because of the cost. This was mainly because the city council are part funding the work and local people thought the money would have been better spent on improving local services. The councils defence was that that the funding from the European Union went some way to pay for them, although they did not provide a breakdown of exactly who paid for what.
I think the debate reflects the current harsh economic climate and it will be interesting to see what people think in 20 to 30 years time.